Andy Murray, the No. 5-ranked men's tennis player in the world and defending Wimbledon champion, has hired out lesbian Amelie Mauresmo as his new coach. It's a big move as very few men are coached by women and even fewer elite players have ever been coached by a woman.
Mauresmo came out publicly as lesbian before reaching the world No. 1 ranking and before winning both the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006.
For both Murray and Mauresmo, the fact that she is a woman is of no great relevance. "I obviously worked with my mum for a long time and then even for periods when I was 16 or 17 years old," Murray said. "For me it doesn't feel like a very different thing. Obviously I wasn't paying my mum so it'll be a little bit different this time around because I'll be employing Amélie."
Mauresmo said she was not interested in the fact that she would be a woman coaching a male player. "All I'm interested in is being able to help him in his goals," she said. "I think he's maybe looking for something different, about emotions and sensitive things."
Imagine that: a female coach simply recognized for her coaching.
